Baby Panda has gone missing again. I locate her next to a discarded sock under a throw pillow and replace her in the arms of her stuffed Mama. Mama and Baby joined our family years ago, a peace offering from my older children to their left-behind younger sibling upon their return from a school trip […]

In the humble opinion of one regular, but very concerned citizen, who is further alarmed by the recent reporting that the current president is gaining on Mr. Biden in the polls and is wondering where in the hell he’s been keeping himself these days (I mean aside from inside his house), these are some things Biden […]

Hi Ho all! Just back from a Fifty is Nifty girls’ weekend in NashVegas, where bachelorettes and middle aged women go to let loose. Lots of open air party buses with listlessly dancing women (and some men), lots of party bikes with hard pedaling men (and some women). I’m sure for all of them, it […]

  My boy turns sixteen today. The boy who is everything I ever dreamed he would be.   He’s smart but not just formula, dates, times and places smart. Smart in a way that questions and analyzes and sometimes agonizes when answers aren’t conclusions. He is intellectually curious, learning more not because he’ll have to answer […]

And by this, I do not mean that I will be investing in a helmet, white hood or tiki torch any time in the foreseeable future. But I was in a conversation with a bunch of white folks on Facebook yesterday about our emerging understanding of our white privilege when one gentleman commented that he […]

  I had a little time today, so I thought I’d check out the job postings on the Amway website. The good news? If you’re looking for work in the Ada, Michigan area, or in a few other areas of the country where Amway has corporate offices, they are definitely hiring. You should check it […]

  Dear America, Don’t blame Trump. I’m talking about the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (formerly nicknamed Obamacare for propaganda reasons) which seems to be sliding down the hill to finality with sickening speed. I’m also talking about the growing number of Trump supporters who, by the looks of Twitter and recent poll numbers, appear […]

  The fireflies will come again this summer. One evening, I will pull The Van into the driveway after a long day and, at the blurred edges of a yard made soft by the dusk, the tiny lights will be there. And I will know that summer is finally here. My children will pile out […]

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and our 9:30 am mass was crammed with families including one family we see every week attending mass with all four of their kids. The oldest is probably in kindergarten or first grade. The youngest is still in an infant carrier. At one point, the father took the baby out of the […]

I don’t remember how long I have known the woman sitting across the table from me. I see her almost every week but I struggle to recall her name. It doesn’t come so I study the holiday cards taped to the wall next to her hoping for a clue. Her eyes twinkle behind her glasses […]